1. Field
The present invention relates generally to a mobile device that has increased security but at the same time is not more intrusive than unsecured systems.
2. Relevant Background
Today, the use of mobile electronic devices is wide spread. Such mobile devices can increase a user's productivity and quality of life, but they are susceptible to loss, theft, or unauthorized use. Examples of such devices are mobile devices, smart phones, cellular phones, portable digital systems (PDAs), digital cameras, mobile computers, etc., (hereinafter referred to as mobile devices). These mobile devices often carry private, confidential, and/or difficult-to-replace data, and the loss of such data further compounds the loss of the mobile device since, while a mobile device that has been lost or stolen can be physically replaced, oftentimes the data stored on such a device is confidential and/or irreplaceable.
Additionally, the authorized user of a lost or stolen mobile device may have to deal with ramifications such as the misuse of information or someone else gaining access to information stored on the mobile device. Further, it is not uncommon for hours or even days to lapse before the authorized user of the mobile device discovers the loss, and during that time, an unauthorized user may be accessing sensitive data, misappropriating information, making national and international phone calls, or running up charges for goods or services on the authorized user's accounts through on-line purchases and transactions.
Many mobile devices have a locking feature that enables the locking of the mobile device. The locking feature may prevent unauthorized access to the mobile device. Typically, the locking feature causes the functioning of the mobile device to be locked or disabled. The locking feature is typically disabled by the authorized user entering a valid passcode. The user may establish a secret valid passcode with the mobile device in order to prevent unwanted access to the user's mobile device. After the mobile device has been locked, entering the valid passcode releases, i.e., opens the lock. Therefore, releasing the lock of the mobile device is only possible for those knowing the passcode.
Due to the quality of web browsing and the great number of available applications that are used on today's mobile devices, the use of mobile devices has greatly increased and more and more mobile device users are relying on their mobile device for on-line transactions such as on-line shopping, on-line banking, paying bills, etc. Therefore, improved security protection is increasingly needed for mobile devices. To perform these on-line transactions a passcode is often required for security reasons. However, the obtrusive nature of entering a passcode each time a user wants to perform a particular on-line function often causes many users, to completely disable this feature which increases the risk, of security problems—especially if the mobile device is lost or stolen. Also, mobile devices often frequently and automatically (e.g., after a pre-determined relatively short amount of time), implement a locking feature to secure the mobile device which also requires the user to enter their passcode to release the mobile device for use. This further motivates users to disable this security feature which further enhances the risk of problems occurring if the mobile device is lost or stolen.
Despite the trend for increased mobile device use, security features on today's mobile devices have not improved beyond the usual password protection for typical non-mobile computer devices, such as non-mobile personal computers. While such security features automatically requiring a passcode for an on-line transaction are suitable for non-mobile personal computers, which are used for a period of time often greater than 20 minutes, these types of security features do not scale down to mobile devices, which are often used only for short time bursts. These short time bursts are often related to short messaging services (SMSs), chats, frequent calls, or simply enabling a quick transaction such as on-line shopping, on-line banking, paying bills, etc.
As previously described, requiring the user of a mobile device to enter a passcode to release the mobile device after a pre-determined short period of time or when the user wants to perform a particular function such as making a phone call, accessing the Internet, or performing an on-line transaction, etc., is obtrusive in nature. Unfortunately, this often causes the user to completely disable the security functions increasing the risk of security problems—especially if the mobile device is lost or stolen. There is therefore a need for techniques to increase mobile device security while at the same time making the security functions less obtrusive.